Olivia Rodrigo live in London: arena-slaying superstar shows why stadiums await

Her Manchester shows may have been postponed, but last weekend saw Olivia Rodrigo blow the roof off The O2 instead.

Playing the third show of her four-night sold-out GUTS World Tour in London, this was a date that showed why she’s forged a rightful reputation as pop-punk’s leading global star right now.

Opening with ‘bad idea, right?‘, Rodrigo had the O2 Arena in the palm of her hands, before gliding through her hits and fan favourites like ‘vampire‘ and break out single ‘drivers license‘.

Rodrigo was able to connect to the audience in more ways than just her relatable lyricism and honest storytelling as she floated through the arena on a crescent moon to perform ‘logical‘ and ‘enough for you‘. Even these deep album cuts were sung along with gusto, usually reserved for the likes of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

A fan sign that Rodrigo focused on during the show read “Olivia you will always be our teenage dream”. This is deeper than the obvious reference to her song ‘teenage dream‘. It’s a reminder that we are witnessing an artist finding herself in the public eye. “I know my age and I act like it” the 21-year-old singer screams in ‘all-american bitch’.  Not only are we at the beginning of what looks to be a remarkable career, but criticisms of ‘juvenile’ songwriting and ‘cringe’ antics are perhaps heard but thrown out the window entirely.

The audience was in for a special treat when the singer brought out Lily Allen for a special rendition of Allen’s song Smile. Fans will remember the first time they shared the stage together at Rodrigos Glastonbury performance in 2022.

Seeing them both perform together was a reminder that female artists, especially when you dive into the stan wars found on any social media comment section, have immense pressure to re-invent and raise the bar with everything they do. In comparison, the GUTS era feels like an extension of the SOUR album cycle. This feels like a conscious effort to go against the grain and expectations.

Rodrigo closed the show with mega-hits good 4 u and get him back. As you can expect, the crowd was no less than feral in the best way possible. We are truly looking at the beginning of a touring tour-de-force. From herein, stadiums seems like the next step.